Articles Tagged With: FHA Streamline Refinance

July 20, 2017

What Is An FHA Streamline Refinance Loan? Part Two

We have been discussing the question, “What is an FHA Streamline Refinance loan?” In our previous blog post on this subject we discussed what FHA Streamline Refinance loans are, including the fact that they are intended only for FHA-to-FHA transactions only, and have no FHA-required credit check. FHA Streamline refinance loans also generally require the borrower to get a lower payment, lower interest rate, or get into a fixed rate loan from an adjustable rate mortgage. There are some exceptions to this which you can discuss with your lender. Those are some of the basics about what FHA Streamline refi loans are. But there is also a list of things that streamline refinances are NOT. These loans don’t permit the same things that FHA cash-out refinance loans do. FHA Streamline | more...

July 20, 2017

What Is An FHA Streamline Refinance Loan?

By Bruce Reichstein

What is an FHA streamline refinance loan? This type of refinance loan option is intended for borrowers who have existing FHA mortgages and want to refinance into a lower interest rate or monthly payment. Streamline refinance loans allow the borrower to apply with no FHA-required appraisal or credit check. Your lender may require one or both, but the FHA allows the option to apply without such requirements. That’s a unique feature-FHA streamline refi loans allow the lender to use the borrower’s existing credit and appraisal data to approve the loan. This type of borrowing can be a major advantage for the home owner who has financial goals that include lower monthly payments. How Streamline Refinance Loans Work The FHA loan handbook, HUD 4000.1, describes streamline refinancing as follows: “Streamline Refinance | more...

July 18, 2017

How Do You Refinance An FHA Loan? FHA Refi Options

By Joe Wallace

How do you refinance an FHA loan? In our last blog post on this subject, we discussed the need to determine your financial needs and goals before examining the different types of FHA refinance loan options. Are you planning to stay in your home for the duration of the loan? Do you need to sell long before then? The answers to those questions will help determine which refi loan is right for you. But what ARE those options? FHA Cash-Out and No Cash Out Refinance Loans Borrowers who have existing FHA mortgages or even non-FHA home loans can refinance with either FHA Cash-Out refinancing or a no-cash version of the same. Cash out refinance loans permit the borrower to get money back on the transaction. Basically once your original mortgage | more...

July 18, 2017

How Do You Refinance An FHA Loan?

By Bruce Reichstein

How do you refinance an FHA loan? There are some important questions to answer before getting to the actual application process-questions that can help you narrow down the right kind of FHA mortgage refinance loan for you. Examining Your Financial Goals and Needs FHA refinance loans come in a variety of types designed to fit different financial needs. Are you looking for a refinance loan that will lower your monthly mortgage payments? Do you need to take cash back on the refinance loan transaction? Depending on circumstances, those two issues may or may not be mutually exclusive. FHA refinance loans do offer the ability to get into a lower payment or interest rate, but getting cash back likely involves a different kind of FHA refinance loan. Deciding what result you | more...

June 23, 2017

What Is An FHA Refinance Loan?

By Bruce Reichstein

What is an FHA refinance loan? Do you know all your refinance options under the FHA loan program? There’s more than one way to refinance a home and the refi option you choose depends a lot on your financial needs and goals. You may find that refinancing into an FHA mortgage brings a lower interest rate, lower monthly payments, or cash back to you depending on the transaction. FHA Refinance Loan Basics FHA refinance loans are loans for those who own an existing property and want to take out a new loan that is secured by that property. Whether you have a home purchased with a conventional mortgage, VA, FHA, USDA, or other non-FHA mortgage, your FHA refinance loan options will include cash-back-to-the-borrower type refinance loans or no-cash-out FHA refinancing. | more...

June 19, 2017

FHA Streamline Refinance Loan Requirements

By Joe Wallace

FHA Streamline Refinance Loan requirements include having a tangible benefit to the borrower in the form of a lower interest rate, a lower monthly payment, shorter mortgage term, and/or refinancing into a fixed rate loan from an FHA adjustable rate mortgage. But there are other requirements for streamline refi loans above and beyond the “tangible benefit” rules. Did you know that FHA streamline loans have “seasoning” rules, too? Seasoning in this case means how long the borrower has been paying on the existing FHA home loan before the assignment of a new FHA loan case number for the refinance transaction. How long do you have to own your home before you can refinance with an FHA Streamline? HUD 4000.1, the FHA single family home loan handbook, states that on the | more...

June 19, 2017

FHA Streamline Refinance Benefits

By Bruce Reichstein

FHA Streamline Refinance rules state that in order for the loan to be approved, the lender must determine that the refinance loan has some type of actual benefit to the borrower. What are the benefits of FHA Streamline refi loans and which one is right for you? FHA Refinance Basics FHA refinancing is usually for either existing FHA mortgages or non-FHA mortgages. However, for FHA Streamline Refinance loan transactions, only existing FHA mortgage loans are allowed. FHA refinancing requires a new credit check and appraisal for any transaction that features cash back to the borrower above and beyond refunds of money paid up front for items that wind up being financed into the mortgage loan. However, FHA Streamline loans don’t allow money back to the borrower, so there’s no FHA-required | more...

When Is An FHA Loan Better Than A Conventional Loan?

June 8, 2017

FHA Refinance Loans: Payoffs and Buyouts

By Joe Wallace

We’ve been examining the ins and outs of FHA refinance loans in our last few posts, but one issue we haven’t discussed yet is whether an FHA refinance can be used to buy out an existing title holder, applied for as part of an FHA short refinance, or to pay off land contracts. HUD 4000.1 has a list of the rules in these areas. Where short payoffs are concerned, the rules are fairly simple: “The Mortgagee may approve a Rate and Term refinance where the maximum mortgage amount is insufficient to extinguish the existing mortgage debt, provided the existing Note holder writes off the amount of the indebtedness that cannot be refinanced into the new FHA-insured Mortgage.” Do you need to refinance your existing mortgage in order to buy out | more...

June 8, 2017

How Soon Can I Refinance? No-Cash Out FHA Refinancing

By Bruce Reichstein

Do you have an existing FHA loan and want to know how soon you can refinance it? Are you paying a monthly mortgage payment on a conventional loan and want to refinance into an FHA mortgage? Refinancing can help borrowers get into lower mortgage payments and/or interest rates, but FHA refinance loans are also helpful for getting into a fixed rate loan and out of an adjustable rate. As you can tell from that brief list of refinance options, not all refinance loans are the same. In a previous blog post we discussed the rules for FHA cash-out refinance loans. Now let’s look at how soon you can refinance a mortgage loan with no cash out. The rules for FHA no cash out “rate-and-term” refinancing loans are found in HUD | more...

What you should know about FHA 203(h) Loans For Disaster Victims

June 7, 2017

FHA Loan Refinance – When Is it Allowed?

By Joe Wallace

It’s a very common FHA refinance loan question, but “How soon can I refinance an FHA loan?” doesn’t have a single answer. Much depends on two important things-what kind of FHA refinance loan you’re interested in, and how long you’ve lived in the home to be refinanced. If you are interested in an FHA cash-out refinance loan, page 409 of HUD 4000.1 has rules you should know: “Cash-out refinance transactions are only permitted on owner-occupied Principal Residences. The Property securing the cash-out refinance must have been owned and occupied by the Borrower as their Principal Residence for the 12 months prior to the date of case number assignment.” That would seem to hint that one year is the minimum time you can own the home before applying for an FHA | more...